Hillary Clinton Rips Donald Trump for Praise of Vladimir Putin

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Hillary Clinton, speaking today at a campaign event in Charlotte, North Carolina, ripped into Donald Trump for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin during a forum on national security Wednesday night, calling his comments "unpatriotic" and "dangerous."

"Here is what I want you to really hear, because even I was shocked by this. And I didn't know much could shock me coming out of his mouth anymore," the Democratic presidential nominee told a crowd of roughly 1,500 as she ticked off various remarks Trump made during the forum on NBC News.

"He praised Russia's strongman, Vladimir Putin, even taking the astonishing step of suggesting he prefers the Russian president to our American president.

"That is not just unpatriotic, it's not just insulting to the office and the man who holds the office. It is scary, it is dangerous. It actually suggests he will let Putin do what Putin wants and even make excuses for him," Clinton continued.

Reiterating remarks she made during a news conference earlier in the day, Clinton added, "I was trying to think about what other presidents would be imagining hearing that, coming out of the nominee for the Republican Party? What would Ronald Reagan say about a Republican nominee who attacks America's generals and heaps praise on Russia's president? We've never seen anything like this."

During the forum Wednesday, the Republican presidential nominee predicted that, as president, he would have a "very, very good relationship with Putin," whom he described as a "leader."

"The man has very strong control over a country," he explained, as he contrasted Putin and Obama. "Now, it's a very different system and I don't happen to like the system, but certainly in that system, he's been a leader. Far more than our president has been a leader. We have a divided country."

During her remarks in Charlotte, Clinton also spoke about being a senator for New York during the 9/11 terrorist attacks 15 years ago, as well as her involvement, while secretary of state, in the U.S. raid on Osama Bin Laden’s Pakistani compound that resulted in his death.

After recounting the intensity of the mission that night by the Navy SEALS, she added, "That, Donald Trump, is what American honor looks like and that is what we're going to stand up and defend in the face of your outrageous, disgraceful attacks on the men and women of our armed forces."